Adam Lallana is one of the England players identified by Roy Hodgson as a forthcoming star for England. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA

Roy Hodgson claims his plans for next summer's World Cup finals have not been thrown off course by two "disappointing" defeats to close what he maintained had been an "excellent" year.

The jarring setbacks at the hands of Chileand Germany had "served their purpose" despite the downbeat end to a calendar year that saw England qualify for Brazil 2014 but enter a World Cup year with expectations low.

Hodgson said that, just as he refused to get carried away following victories over Montenegroand Poland that secured qualification, England's first back-to-back defeats at Wembley since 1977 would not distract him from the task at hand. Searching for positives, the England manager said that he had found one in Southampton's Adam Lallana, who played in both matches.

"They have served their purpose, we've used a lot of players. We've found one and it's not easy to find players after a year and a half. We've had a lot of squads in that time and we watch players every week," said Hodgson. "You know as well as I do that there aren't so many English players out there that no one has ever heard of that could play for England. But we've found Lallana, which is a good step for us. We've learned more about some of the other younger players."

Hodgson, who was so new to the job when he took England to the European Championship in 2012 that he was largely immune from criticism, said he was prepared for some flak. "There was probably too much euphoria after the October games. I never got carried away by that. But I'm a little bit disappointed if people want to dismiss what happened in 2013 on the basis of two tough friendly matches against two top-class teams with a lot of experimentation going on," he said.

"If that's what the press are doing, that's fine. But it's not going to affect me. I still take a lot out of 2013. It's been an excellent year. I'm saddened because it's been an excellent unbeaten run and we've had to remember what it's like to lose two games in a row in front of two such big home crowds."

Before the Chile game England had not lost in 10 matches since Sweden beat them in a friendly. "I'm not prepared to have that rollercoaster ride where in October we were fantastic, we were going to the World Cup, we were an excellent team and then suddenly after these two games [we're not]," he said. "I probably would have been more concerned if I'd picked my best XI and not taken the chance to look at a few players, to bed some people in."

But Hodgson admitted that the 1-0 defeat by a second-string Germany was frustrating because, despite having plenty of possession, his side failed to show the "necessary quality" to penetrate their defence. "That's very disappointing and the players are very disappointed. But does it really concern me for next June? I'm not sure it does," he said, reiterating his confidence in Wayne Rooney, Daniel Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge to click when required.

As he enters a World Cup year with a most unfamiliar lack of hoopla about England's chances Hodgson admitted that there was "still work to be done in relation to our quality".

Although his players will not convene again until they meet Denmark in March, Hodgson said there was no point starting to draw up his potential longlist of 30 players until much nearer the World Cup.